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How to Enable Resizable BAR for More Games—What Works on NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel

Resizable BAR is enabled in BIOS, but NVIDIA may still control it per game. Learn when a manual override is worth testing—and how to verify or undo it safely.
Length8 min Posted Quest giverVGSources Team

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Short answer: you enable Resizable BAR (ReBAR) at the motherboard level once, but that does not guarantee that NVIDIA will use it in every game. On supported NVIDIA hardware, you can try a per-game driver-profile override with NVIDIA Profile Inspector, but there is no universally safe “enable ReBAR everywhere” switch. Test each title and keep a rollback path.

Resizable BAR may appear under different names: AMD calls its implementation Smart Access Memory (SAM), while Intel documentation refers to ReBAR/SAM. The underlying PCIe capability is similar, but the way each vendor enables and manages it differs.

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What you are actually enabling

There are three separate layers, and confusing them is the reason many ReBAR guides produce misleading results:

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  1. Platform support: your motherboard firmware must expose ReBAR, and the system must be configured for UEFI operation.
  2. GPU and driver support: the graphics card’s VBIOS and installed driver must support the feature.
  3. Game-profile activation: the graphics driver may decide whether ReBAR is used by a particular game.

ReBAR lets the CPU access a larger portion of the graphics card’s memory address space instead of working through smaller windows. That can reduce transfer overhead in some workloads, but the result depends on the game, renderer, GPU, CPU, resolution, settings, and driver. It can be beneficial, neutral, or occasionally harmful.

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Enabling the BIOS option makes ReBAR available to the system. It does not prove that a particular game is using it, and it does not force every driver profile to activate it.

Check compatibility before changing firmware

Before entering the BIOS/UEFI, check the following:

  • Your CPU, chipset, motherboard, and GPU support ReBAR.
  • The motherboard has a BIOS/UEFI release that supports it. A later firmware update can add support on some boards; the model name alone is not always enough. Intel documents an example involving an X570 motherboard in its ReBAR troubleshooting guidance.
  • Windows is installed in UEFI/GPT mode rather than Legacy/MBR mode.
  • The GPU VBIOS supports ReBAR.
  • Your graphics driver is current enough for the feature.

Older GeForce RTX 30-series cards may require a GPU VBIOS update. NVIDIA provides an official Resizable BAR Firmware Update Tool for compatible cards and explains the relevant motherboard, CSM, and driver requirements, including the RTX 30-series rollout associated with the R465 driver family.

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Do not treat a BIOS update or VBIOS update as risk-free. Follow the instructions for your exact board or graphics-card model, back up important data, and avoid interrupting firmware updates.

Enable ReBAR in BIOS or UEFI

Menu names vary by manufacturer, but the usual process is:

  1. Restart the PC and enter firmware setup, commonly by pressing Delete, F2, or a motherboard-specific key during startup.
  2. Set the boot mode to UEFI.
  3. Disable CSM, Compatibility Support Module, or Legacy Boot.
  4. Enable Above 4G Decoding, or set it to Auto if that is the available option.
  5. Enable Re-Size BAR Support, Resizable BAR, or Smart Access Memory. Some firmware uses Auto.
  6. Save the changes and reboot.

Intel’s current ReBAR support guidance lists UEFI boot, disabled CSM/Legacy mode, Above 4G Decoding, Re-Size BAR, and current motherboard firmware among the important requirements. The same page notes that manufacturers use different labels.

Important: disabling CSM can affect booting

If Windows was installed in Legacy/MBR mode, disabling CSM may leave the system unable to boot. Before changing it, confirm the system disk uses GPT and that Windows Boot Manager is the UEFI boot option.

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If the PC stops booting, return to firmware setup and restore the previous CSM/Legacy and boot configuration. Back up your files before attempting any conversion from MBR to GPT or reinstalling Windows, and use the procedure recommended for your motherboard and Windows installation.

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Verify that ReBAR is active

A BIOS toggle is only the first check. Verify the driver-visible state after reboot.

NVIDIA

Open NVIDIA Control Panel, choose Help → System Information, and look for the Resizable BAR status. NVIDIA’s firmware-tool documentation also describes verification through NVIDIA Control Panel.

AMD Radeon

Check AMD Software or a current hardware-information utility for Smart Access Memory/ReBAR status. AMD’s Smart Access Memory guidance identifies disabled CSM and enabled Re-Size BAR as important prerequisites.

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Intel Arc

Use Intel’s current support and driver tools, including Intel Driver & Support Assistant where appropriate, and confirm that your CPU, motherboard, firmware, and Arc model are supported. Intel’s Arc desktop quick-start guide lists supported platform examples, but those examples are not a universal guarantee for every motherboard revision.

A utility such as GPU-Z can provide a second hardware-level check. Utility labels and interfaces change, so use a current release. Also remember that “ReBAR enabled” in a system utility means the platform and driver can use the capability; it does not necessarily show that every game profile has activated it.

NVIDIA: force ReBAR for one game

NVIDIA’s selective game-profile behavior is why users often ask how to enable ReBAR manually. NVIDIA can configure ReBAR differently from one title to another because game workloads do not respond identically. A title excluded from the normal profile may show no gain, a regression, or a stability problem when forced.

The commonly used advanced method is NVIDIA Profile Inspector, a third-party configuration utility—not an official NVIDIA universal switch. Its interface and field names can vary by build, driver branch, and selected profile.

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  1. Download NVIDIA Profile Inspector from its legitimate project or repository source. Close the game and, ideally, the launcher too.
  2. Open the utility and select the game’s driver profile. Make sure you are editing the profile for the correct executable, not merely a similarly named launcher.
  3. Search the profile for ReBAR-related settings.
  4. Record the original values, or export/back up the profile before changing anything.
  5. Apply the ReBAR-related override exposed by your current build. Community guides may refer to ReBAR feature, option, and size-limit fields, but do not assume that exact names or values are present in every version.
  6. Launch the game and test it under repeatable conditions.
  7. Revert the change if performance, frame pacing, loading, image quality, or stability worsens.

An example of the general workflow is shown in this Profile Inspector guide, but treat older screenshots and exact field values as version-specific rather than permanent interface documentation.

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Why a global override is a poor default

You may find instructions for changing the global driver profile. That can affect games NVIDIA intentionally configured conservatively, as well as applications whose profiles have different rendering behavior. A global override also makes it harder to identify which game caused a crash or frame-time regression.

Use a per-game profile instead. If a driver update resets the edit, that is not unusual: manual profile changes are not guaranteed to persist across driver branches. Keep a note of the original and modified settings and re-check the result after major driver updates.

AMD: use the normal firmware path

For Radeon systems, the practical route is usually platform configuration rather than copying NVIDIA Profile Inspector instructions:

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  1. Update the motherboard BIOS if the vendor lists ReBAR/SAM support in a newer release.
  2. Confirm Windows is using UEFI/GPT.
  3. Disable CSM or Legacy mode.
  4. Enable Above 4G Decoding.
  5. Enable Re-Size BAR Support or Smart Access Memory.
  6. Reboot and verify the state in AMD Software or a hardware-information utility.

AMD’s Smart Access Memory branding refers to its implementation of the same general PCIe capability. AMD does not guarantee a measurable improvement in every game; gains remain workload-dependent.

Intel Arc: do not use the NVIDIA override method

Intel says Arc graphics can function without ReBAR, but ReBAR/SAM is required for optimal performance. Intel’s supported-platform documentation should take priority over an NVIDIA-specific profile-editing guide.

For Arc, update the motherboard firmware, confirm the CPU and board combination is supported, disable CSM, enable Above 4G Decoding and Re-Size BAR, install the current Intel graphics driver, and verify the result with Intel’s support tools. If Intel reports that ReBAR is unsupported, investigate motherboard firmware and platform compatibility rather than trying to force an NVIDIA driver profile.

Intel’s Arc ReBAR support article explains the performance requirement, while the Arc desktop guide provides platform examples and enablement guidance.

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How to test whether forcing ReBAR helped

Do not judge the change from one unusually high FPS reading. Compare the same game scene, save, benchmark, graphics settings, resolution, driver, and background applications.

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  1. Record a baseline with the normal profile.
  2. Run the same test at least three times and note average FPS, 1% lows, and frame-time consistency.
  3. Apply the per-game override.
  4. Repeat the same runs, preferably after the game has rebuilt or settled its shader cache.
  5. Check for shader-compilation stutter, hitching, longer loads, crashes, device-removed errors, texture corruption, or other visual defects.
  6. Test a cold launch or reboot as well as a repeated launch if the issue appears intermittent.

Forcing ReBAR is worth keeping only when the improvement is repeatable and there are no meaningful regressions. It is most plausible to help when the game is GPU-bound and the platform is fully supported. It is less useful when the game is CPU-bound, already has a carefully configured driver profile, or the system is unstable or overclocked.

There is no universal FPS percentage. Secondary reporting has cited gains of roughly 10% in specific benchmark circumstances, but that result should not be turned into a general gaming promise. Many games see a small change or none at all, and an unsupported profile can perform worse.

Troubleshooting

The ReBAR option is missing in BIOS

Check for a newer motherboard BIOS, confirm the CPU and chipset combination is supported, verify that CSM is disabled, and enable Above 4G Decoding first if the firmware requires it. OEM systems may hide the option. The GPU VBIOS may also lack support. Do not conclude that the board is permanently incompatible until you have checked the manufacturer’s firmware notes.

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The driver still reports ReBAR as disabled

  1. Confirm CSM is actually disabled.
  2. Confirm Windows booted through UEFI, not Legacy mode.
  3. Check Above 4G Decoding.
  4. Check Re-Size BAR Support.
  5. Update the motherboard BIOS.
  6. Confirm the GPU VBIOS supports ReBAR.
  7. Install a current graphics driver.
  8. Make sure the intended GPU is the active display adapter.

Performance gets worse

Revert the game’s profile override. Technical activation does not mean a title benefits from the feature; the driver may have excluded it precisely because of workload behavior or a known regression. Compare frame times and stability, not only average FPS.

Profile Inspector does not show ReBAR fields

The selected profile may not contain the fields, the utility may be outdated, or the field names may differ in that build or driver branch. You may also be editing the wrong executable profile. Do not copy exact values from an old screenshot without confirming what the current utility exposes.

The PC will not boot after changing CSM

Return to firmware setup, re-enable the previous CSM/Legacy setting, and restore the former boot order. Do not continue changing boot settings until your data is backed up and you know whether the installation is MBR/Legacy or GPT/UEFI.

Bottom line

Enable ReBAR at the platform level if your motherboard, GPU, firmware, and operating-system boot mode support it. On NVIDIA, a per-game Profile Inspector override can be tested when the normal profile does not activate ReBAR, but it is an unofficial experiment—not a reliable way to enable the feature in every game. Avoid global forcing, measure repeatable results, and restore the original profile whenever performance or stability declines.

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